The document summarizes accounts from Mary Graffam describing the atrocities committed against Armenians by Turkish forces in the early 20th century. It details how Armenian men were separated from their families and taken away to be killed, leaving thousands of corpses in the valleys. Women were robbed by Turkish drivers and subjected to abuse and violence during the forced deportations, such as a naked, bruised woman and a mother almost thrown over a bridge with her baby. The document conveys how both men and women suffered immense cruelty, including mass killings targeting all males over age ten.

1. Sandy Cash
Mailbox 108
“An account of Turkish Violence Against Armenians,” shows the horrors of when the Turks
massacred thousands of Armenians and deported others. It talks about how the men were taken
away by groups to be killed. It also describes how the women were treated. For example, how the
Turkish drivers robbed the women.
Mary Graffam, describes how at first when the Armenians were being deported, the Vali allowed
the men who were not in prison go with their families. As they made their journey men were
being separated from their families. Later some women and children saw that the men were being
taken off to be killed. The Turks were murdering so many, that it was said, “a valley near there
was full of corpses.” The last time men were being collected, only one man came back and said,
“every man was told to give up all his money and were then taken to prison.”
The women were also treated badly. As soon as the men left the women, the Turkish drives began
to rob the woman saying, “You are all going to be thrown into the Tokma Su, so you might as
well give your things to us, and then we will stay by you and try to protect you.” Also, when the
women and children died on the road the Turkish drives did not care one bit, it made the children,
“work like heroes.” One girl took a baby from its dead mother; another carried a dying woman
until she died. While on their journey, they also saw a “naked body of a woman was covered with
bruises.” In fact, one woman who was riding on a horse with a baby in her arms was almost
through over the bridge, until a Kurd told the other Kurd not to do it since she had a baby.
This document shows how horrible men, women and children were treated while they were being
deported. It talks about how the men were taken away to be killed, and how the women were not
treated much better. It shows how the deaths became so bad that it was said that “every male over
ten years old is being murdered, that not one is to live, and no woman over fifteen.”